I have tried to avoid posting this dialogue for some time now, but after watching a documentary, seeing a disturbing incident and having similar experiences, I had to say something. As most of you know, I am the eldest son to a Pentecostal preacher. My mother was the first in her family to get her high school diploma, bachelors and master’s degree in teaching. After my father supported my mother in getting her degrees, he went to school and got his college degree. Both of my parents are college educated because they came from parents and grandparents who didn’t have an education, but understood that it was essential in order to make it in this society, they needed an education. Consequently, I have a college degree and one of my brothers has a degree. Not only that, most of my extended family, close friends and associates also have a degree, which is reflective of two popular ideas that stems from post slavery.

W.E.B.DuBois

One was from W.E.B. DuBois and the other was from Booker T. Washington. Both of these men were brilliant, but their brilliance is constantly overshadowed because Booker T. Washington inspired Marcus Garvey’s movement, which to date was the most successful African American movement in the history of the country and Afro-Diaspora. Because DuBois’ ceased agreeing with Garvey and both attacked each other in the media (DuBois for the NAACP and Garvey for the UNIA), DuBois was painted as being a sellout, which has indirectly branded just about any Black man or woman that gets an education and works for some major organization outside of the community, as a sellout as well.

Marcus Garvey

It’s not stressed that DuBois was the first African American to graduate from Harvard, the leaders of an African American activist group that advocated civil rights, who was also an advocate of Pan Africanism. What most people know about him is that he was one of the founders of the NAACP and believed to be a conspirator to Garvey’s demise.

Was DuBois a sellout? Is anyone that gets a college education a sellout? Hell, for that matter, is Barack Obama a sellout or a house Negro?

Ok. Before we answer that let me share this story with you. I use to work at this job in the oilfield and there was this kid who just got hired. Now, he knew when he got hired that they required him to be on call, because he worked at a similar place of employment. So, the job would call the entire crew about two to three hours prior before the job. Now, this kid on several occasions when called was late getting to the work site. Finally, the manager decided he had enough and called him and fired him. In the midst of him being fired, this kid yells out for me to save him from getting fired and when I refused. He called me a “Sellout.”

Okay. What was it that I did that resulted in me being called a sellout? Did I do anything wrong? Should I have jeopardized my employment, me putting food on the table for my loved ones, etc. for him? Would this kid have done the same for me? If I lost my job, would this kid come to my home and shell out some cash for me to put food on my table for my family and provide a roof over their head?

No. I don’t think so.

Let’s revisit the scenario. This kid knew ahead of time that he was going to be on-call. Why was he late arriving to several jobsites is not important. The fact is that he was not RESPONSIBLE period. I was called out as being a sellout because I was RESPONSIBLE and taking care of my business.

Now, that United States has their first African American president, we have seen an increase in African Americans in the media, but we can all agree. They haven’t been the most positive images. Well, several decades ago, there was a few actors that tried to address this issue. Do you remember him? His name is Bill Cosby. Cosby was a well-known comedian and actor who had traveled all over the world, so when he created the Cosby show, he knew that this was the image that would be broadcast all over the planet.

The Cosby Show

What happened? Cosby’s show after numerous seasons was canceled because “It wasn’t Black Enough!” What was the complaint that many of us said, “No one in our community lives like this, with a father that works as a doctor and a mother as a lawyer.” We claimed that it wasn’t “Real.”

Now, I must admit that I appreciate what Tyler Perry has done in regards to building his studios, creating jobs and everything, but it is another example of someone not looking at the whole picture. You and I know that the Madea and Brown from Meet the Browns, image is not the norm, but people who don’t live in our community around the world, don’t know this. And my God! If they have an all day marathon, imagine these images being shown for 24 hours what an individual would think? The crazy thing is that I have actually had some white people ask me if certain things that were done in his movies were true. Again, this doesn’t make Perry a bad guy. He is fulfilling his dream and doing what he was destined to do, which was to make films from his perspective. He has done a good job at it and has a knack for story writing, after all he made “Daddy’s Little Girls” followed by “Dairy of a Mad Black Women,” which I think were his best films ever. So, there’s nothing wrong with what he is doing. The Divine within me helps me to see that Perry just isn’t seeing the whole picture and doesn’t see how certain images affect the greater whole, and that’s when someone with a better script is supposed to come into the picture.

Now, let’s return back to the DuBois and Garvey scenario. DuBois came from a much different background than Garvey, which is the reason he saw life for his people differently. This did not make him a bad man because he had a different perspective. He was just a man that had a different perspective than Garvey and saw things differently. In fact, when DuBois proposed his Talented Tenth theory, what he was saying was that he understood that not every African American was going to be able to go to college, but those who did manage to do so were the ones that would help the remaining 90%. But, what happens all too often, because of our warped ideas of what we should be (in someone else’s image) combined with our lack of knowledge of our history, and narrow perspective of the world. When our loved ones get a higher education, we ostracized them, tear them down and ridicule them for thinking outside of the box. This is what happened to DuBois.

As a matter of fact, did you know that one of the ideas that Garvey supported was that Africa be ruled by African Americans, which prompted DuBois to declare that Garvey was reckless. Not only that, did you know that part of the problems that occurred in Liberia, Africa were due to migrating African Americans imposing their American ways on the indigenous Liberians? This is the reason DuBois was against this concept in the first place. Understand that I am not saying that Garvey was a bad man, because he surely was not. At the time, he was rash and rough around the edges. Not a bad guy but I think that he didn’t see the whole picture and most of us are missing it too, we will keep getting stuck on superficiality and refuse to see each other’s divinity.

When we look at both DuBois and Garvey objectively, it can be said that DuBois wanted all black people to take responsibility for their own wellbeing. Garvey on the other hand was about nation building, which focused on centering or focusing upon a leader. Both philosophies were needed, neither was better than the other. One however was able to outlive the other because it was well planned and organized, while the other fell apart, inspired other groups, which had the same results. I wish both of these men would have had a chance to collaborate before their death, because it would have been phenomenal, but one of the points that I am making and hope you can see is that there is a difference between thinking and doing. In other words, there is a difference between being proactive and reactive. Our enemy fears us realizing the difference.

We see the same problem played out between Malcolm X and Martin L. King Jr., both were two different men that had different perspectives on how to reach a similar goal. But, the man most identify with is Malcolm because we love his direct, brash; I don’t give a damn approach over Martin’s alleged passive approach. This is why in earlier recordings Malcolm called these individuals approaching the situation as such “house Negroes.”

Malcolm X and Shirley Graham DuBois, wife of W.E.B. DuBois and Director of Ghana National Television, at her villa in Accra, Ghana during Malcolm’s visit in May 1964. DuBois had thrown a reception in his honor.

What people don’t understand is that Martin was a brilliant revolutionary that looked beyond the superficial. Martin understood that no matter how much black people in the 1960s wanted to have an arm revolution; it was not possible because of various factors. For instance, where would the elderly, women and children live while people were fighting? Who was going to supply the money for food, ammunition, etc.? This is why Martin didn’t agree with everything Malcolm was saying and for this reason Martin was branded as being a “sellout” or “House Negro” initially.

Malcolm & Fidel

Malcolm didn’t understand this in the beginning, but when it finally dawned on him. All of a sudden you find him visiting world leaders. Question, where do you think he got that idea from? I am not suggesting that he got it from King but, I am suggesting that he finally came to his full senses with the help from fellow intellectuals.

Josiah Henson the Real Uncle Tom

What we need to understand is that everything is not as it appears. We fail to realize that racism has been so apparent in our lives that it has affected even how we perceive one another. We call everyone that doesn’t live in the hood, talk the way we talk, dress the way dress, etc. an Uncle Tom, without realizing that this was a fictional character meant to further sabotage our efforts. If would spend time investigating our own rich heritage we would learn that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was inspired by the former slave Josiah Henson who fled into Canada and started his own community to help other former slaves. This means that the real Uncle Tom was a revolutionary that made sacrifices to build and develop their own. Just like Uncle Tom is a fictional character, the so-called idea of blackness is a fictional idea as well that was created to prevent us from progressing. This is why I have seen Somalian men come over to this country, strive to rebuild their lives by getting jobs and an education, then all of a sudden start sagging their pants for respect and credibility. Not only that, today we have young people deliberately “dumbing” down their intelligence to appear stupid because they got the idea that to be smart is not cool and not “black”.

This stupid idea of blackness is causing us to exclude our own throughout the Afro-Diaspora (particularly those in Latin America), just because they didn’t grow up in the United States. Assata knew that blackness was silly, which is why she is dwelling in Cuba to this day.

Assata Shakur

We need to learn and teach each other to see one another’s divinity, so that we help each other grow. The 1960s and 1970s was a powerful time and the reason we all keep referring to it is because that’s when everything changed from the better to the worse. Most of the progress that was made even in those bad times was due to Harlem Renaissance era, which occurred prior. During that time we had numerous intellectuals and that’s when the attacks began because we were focused on us. Some of the people during the 1960s and early 1970s remember those glorious times because we didn’t control all of our community. We did control a lot of it because we respected who we were regardless of status and education.

It was about intellect and muscle, and that same attitude existed in the 1970s. For instance, when Assata Shakur was rescued and exiled to Cuba, it was a collaborative effort on several parts. I heard the story several times from my late history instructor Imari Obadele (born Richard Bullock Henry May 2, 1930 – January 18, 2010), the former president of the Republic of New Africa and strong advocate of reparations, who was wrongly imprisoned himself, but was freed after serving five years thanks to the help of Rep. John Conyers, a Detroit politician, and Amnesty International.

We need to get rid of the idea of blackness and replace it with Divineness. I do not believe that there are people in this world that hates their own kind. That’s contradicts the laws of nature. I do believe that there are people in this world that have different perspectives due to different cognizance and a lack of knowledge. This is the reason, every time we base our decisions on this superficial quality, we get played because the other party goes through this song and dance, of trying to prove how “black” they are. Clinton did it and Obama did it.

If people would have focused on one another’s divinity, they would have avoided being tricked and saw through the individual’s real intentions. For instance, if they would have looked at President Obama as just another man with a divine spark, instead of as a black man, they could have avoided seeing him as a savior that so many people perceived him as being. And instead, saw him as another politician. Now to be honest with you, this is not to say that I was not happy that he won the election because I like comedian Chris Rock mentioned. It meant that I could stop saying that stupid mantra, “You can be anything you want. Even the president of the United States,” but I didn’t expect anything drastic to happen as a result of him becoming the president either. Because he is a politician and politicians, politic for money. That’s politics, so stop being angry at him for being a politician and get angry at yourself for allowing yourself to get duped, again. Obama is doing his job and that is to be a politician. He fulfilled part of his destiny, so calling him a sellout is just like the kid who called me a sellout.

We have to stop putting our faith in other people and start putting our faith in ourselves. If you have in your heart to go in one direction and you come across another who claims to do the same, you will know because it will show in their actions. When you focus on your divinity and see the divine within them, you see what they are all about because they can’t hide it. You will always know a bird by the way it poops.

I had to see the divine when the young kid called me a sellout. It was hurtful only because I couldn’t reveal to him that I was a Spook Who Sat By the Door, striving to improve not only my own but his as well. If he had only been responsible and did his part. Who knows what we could have accomplished together. I was only able to forgive him because I understood that he was young and like most young people who are rash, doesn’t think. The youth corresponds to the Ra moment on the Maa Aankh, which if not managed correctly would lead to one’s demise because they are always acting or reacting and not thinking before they act.

We need to appreciate one another regardless of what level of consciousness we are on and see the role it plays in our own development. It is not meant for us all to travel the same path and have the same experience, because we all have different purposes. I have said it before and I will say it again, that if you read about Malcolm’s childhood, you would know that there was no way he was going to become a Christian. It was going to take a miracle for that to happen, and it was only because Master Fard appeared to him miraculously that he found Allah (God) in the first place, and became the great man that we know today. Just because someone doesn’t take the same path in life as you did doesn’t make them of less important. This is a trick from the enemy. Nothing happens by coincidence, everything happens for a reason but if you no plan, you don’t take no responsibility for your life and just wait for someone to save you. You will never succeed or achieve anything in life. We need to understand that we each play a role in our growth and development, which means you have to do your part.

You never know that that kid you insulted for walking upright might be the lawyer to save your behind from being incarcerated, or that guy you see as street thug may actually be a community organizer that rallies youths against joining gangs. We all have a stake and the only way to accomplish it is by seeing the spark within.

Don’t let the enemy lead you into believing that you are better, worse or not enough of anything. Invest in the understanding that you are a divine being surrounded by other divinities. Now go out and make the world you want.

Hetepu (Peace) Family. The other day I was talking to my former supervisor who is very religious and she was just telling me all about the Holy Spirit. I thought it was interesting for one because even though she knows I don’t believe everything she believes. She still identified me according to the way I live my life as being “Born Again,” which is why I titled this post this way. But, all while she was talking I was just wondering if she even knew where this came from. Then I got to thinking about how churches are so different now.

Musical Greats inspired by the Church

Let me explain real quick. Remember the music of the Motown era, Staxx and so on? Remember when those singers like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, the Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes (sorry to all music purist, I know I am jumping around…I WAS NOT born during that era, please forgive me 🙂 ) and all of them talked about their beginning or how they developed their musical talents? Do you remember what they all would say? That’s right the Church. They all gave the same answer, that they honed their singing, musical, and oratory skills in the Church. Now, if we skip to contemporary times people will not say the same thing. The response is somewhat so-so but you will hear most comment on how they came from the “secular” world and brought their talent to the Church. Interesting isn’t it?

I mean when did the Church start getting its inspiration from the Streets? It was when they loss their Anointing or the Spirit of God, and once they loss this connection, the ability to be Spirit-led wasn’t far behind.

William J. Seymour, son of former slave and leader of the Azusa Street Revival

You see, the whole Spirit-led phenomenon that most Churches talk about today was supposed to be due to following the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. The evidence that one is filled with the Holy Ghost is by speaking-in-tongues based upon the Day of Pentecost. If you ask most churchgoers where this movement began, they will tell you that it all started at the Azusa Street Revival, which was started by William J. Seymour.

Charles Parham, evangelical preacher and mentor of Seymour

What they don’t tell you is that Seymour was a student of Charles Parham and when he came upon the revival he denied it and denounced the movement as being taken over by hypnotists, spiritualists and fortunetellers. (see A Catechism of Christian Doctrine…No. 3, Supplemented by Rev. Thomas L. Kinkead. Bezinger Brother, 1921 pg. 261-262). In fact, Parham’s racial views about African Americans and Mexican Americans involvement in the Pentecostal Movement is what led to the development of separate Pentecostal organizations in the United States.

Pentecostals Praying and Laying hands

Obviously, the reason most Black scholars and theologians, as well as non-Black theologians refuse to say anything about this is because they don’t want anyone to know about their African shamanistic roots and spiritualistic origins. But, the failure to acknowledge and address the African element is the reason so many people in the church are experiencing such a disconnect from the Spirit of God. It is all because the practice of speaking-in-tongues as evidence that one has the gift of the Holy Ghost is a form of spirit possession, particularly African trance possession.

Afro-Brazilian Trance Possession

This practiced survived in the Untied States because Spiritualism encouraged it by proving that there is life after death and how one could speak to spirits, thus verifying Native American and African beliefs in the otherworld. If it had not been for Spiritualism – particularly Kardec Spiritualism – most of the indigenous practices of Native Americans and Africans throughout the Americas (Caribbean and Latin America) would have become extinct.

So, the practice of speaking in tongues or possession survived, along with other African practices such as prophesizing and shouting, which are all Spirit-led because of Spiritualism. What does this have to do with losing connection to the Spirit of God, you ask? It means that the original beliefs and practices go beyond the Azusa Street Revival. The actual theology comes from Africa.

African American Ring Shout

Being led by the Spirit, as any African Traditional and African Diaspora practitioner will tell you is great, but you have to verify what the Spirit is saying is true, and this is why the loss has occurred. There is no verification process, which means any spirit can come in and tell a person to do something. The older people in the church had ways of discerning if what the spirit was telling them was true or not (called divination), but for reasons “unknown”. Their ways were regarded as being superstitious and backwards practices from Africa, which is the reason it was not taught.

Coliseums & Mega Churches

As is the case all throughout the world, when two cultures encounters each other, the dominant culture takes from the other elements, which it sees as being beneficial and profitable to its own, while discarding the rest. So, now when you turn on the radio or watch TV you see all sorts of preachers talking about the Holy Ghost and being led by the Holy Spirit. You will hear all sorts of singers talking about how great the Holy Spirit is and how it is the most beautiful thing in the world. All while these peoples’ lives are in shambles, they have poor nutrition, they have low self-esteem, poor relationships, and impoverished communities but yet the Holy Spirit is wonderful.

Clearly, something is missing and that something is the African element, which the “powers that be” deemed as being superstitious and backwards. It is because most churches do not have this element, which is the basis of the Azusa Street Revival. The reason so many people in the church have simply sold out. With no anointing or no-Spirit you got to find ways to entertain the masses. While it seems a little barbaric to create great coliseums and see gladiators physically kill each other. If you look at most mega churches, they do resemble coliseums and they get on stage and allow their egos to have a slugfest instead. I am not here to judge anyone but really. If all of these people really had the Spirit of God within them some of the issues that exist in our society would cease, so why haven’t they? Clearly, something is wrong.

Please understand my post is not to ridicule the church. I have become a very objective individual, so I can and will listen to anyone because Absolute Truth is Absolute Truth regardless of whose mouth it comes out of. I enjoy listening to some preachers when it is the Spirit sermonizing and not the speaker’s ego. The purpose of this post is get you to understand that the original idea of what it means to be saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. Didn’t come from Azusa Street but from Africans and early African Americans who wanted to be “saved” and delivered from slavery. American Churches watered down the original purpose and in a minute we will see why.

Kongo Cross on Colonoware

You see, the Africans and early African Americans relying upon remnants from Africa combined with Christianity created the Spirit-led tradition that people are so happy to talk about today. They also created a coded language that allowed them discern if what the Spirit was telling them was true or not, unlike people nowadays who just want to experience the Spirit or feel good and do nothing with it. Therefore, if you want to be truly reborn, you need to understand that it is not about listening to the Spirit. You have to learn to trust the Spirit and follow the Spirit’s guidance. Once you do this, you will realize after you have verified that what the Spirit is telling is true. That the reason you speak-in-tongues is because all of those tongues are the ancestors who reside in the unseen spirit world.

Basic Kongo Cosmogram

But not every dead person is an ancestor. Some of the dead were bad people in life and they continue to be bad people in the afterlife. This is why the elders had to find a way to discern what the Spirit was saying is true. Most of our elders did this through bibliomancy, the art of divining with a book. Although any book can be used, the book most of our elders used was the Christian bible. Are you beginning to see why it was regarded as superstitious?

Black Jesus (as depicted in the film Red Tails)

Unfortunately, most of the original theology that the elders relied upon was lost because Jesus from the African and early African American perspective was seen as being a patriarchal ancestor. Fortunately, this early African American concept was not new. It was practiced in Kamit/Kemet (Ancient Egypt) some 3,000 years ago and the patriarchal ancestor was Osar (Asar, Ausar or Osiris in Greek).

Maa Aankh Cosmogram

This is the whole reason behind the heroic Hru (Hrw, Heru or Horus in Greek) fighting his evil uncle in order to reclaim his ancestor’s crown, the white crown of Kamit called the Hedjet or Crown of Osar.

Hru Osar and Set

So, how do you know when you have been reborn. You will know when you are truly reborn because your Osar (the patriarch of your lineage) gives you self-pride. When you have pride in yourself, you will live a better life because your Osar will help you not to do it. Your Osar will tell you that certain things are harmful to you. You can “try the Spirit” and it will help you in everyway. It will not cause you to humiliate yourself by altering your looks just to be accepted by the public. Most importantly, the Spirit will get you to stand up and fight in whatever way possible against injustice. It will truly liberate you of your fears because as Jesus said, the Spirit is a Comforter. So the question that remains is why would the “powers that be” take the African element out, besides trying to disassociate itself with spiritualism? Well, remember this historical event?

Martin L. King Jr. Arrested

Ok, maybe not. How about these historical events?

MLK a Global Force

Do you get the picture? King was transformed by the Holy Spirit, which transcended all sorts of cultural and racial boundaries. This is why he was able to mobilize people to march on Washington, D.C. Mind you, when I say they marched, they didn’t take buses and drive to D.C. then walked the rest of the way, like these contemporary marches. The people marched from all over the country to D.C. Regardless of what you believe about King, the fact is that he led the most powerful march in the history of the country, which is why his influence is still felt. I believe clearly you can see it wasn’t ego driving these people who marched during the Civil Rights era…it was the Spirit. This is the reason the religion has been watered down, because they don’t want any of us, YOU included, to be the next Martin L. King Jr.

This is why to be reborn the right way means to learn how to connect first to your Osar and this is the true purpose of Kamta.

Never Forget

So, with all of these spiritual people in our society, it is time to change the world.

Hope all is well. This is something that has really been on my mind since Malcolm X’s birthday is nearing and the rising disturbing actions and behaviors perpetrated by our youth in their desperate attempt to make money. I have also wanted to address this issue about because some people have been asking if Kamta is a New Age thing. So I have been letting this subject run around in my mind for a minute in order to address is appropriately.

Kamitic priest in leopard pelt

Because shamanism has become such a very popular term to throw around by anyone claiming to be spiritual and not religious or refusing to follow the order of organized religion. I have decided to write this post to clarify, specify and distinguish Kamta from the New Age shamanistic movements. Please understand that I have nothing against New Agers because everything has its purpose, but I want to make it clear that this is not a trend. I have to keep telling this story in order to raise consciousness, not because it is the trendy thing that is in fashion now, but because it is a Way of Life pertaining to my survival.

Portuguese ship

Kamta is a Spirit – led shamanic tradition based upon Kamitic (Ancient Egyptian) philosophy and Afrospiritual thought. When the Africans were enslaved and brought to North America, unlike those taken to the Caribbean and South America, they were unable to maintain and retain all of their religious beliefs because their formal introduction spiritual system had been disrupted or simply destroyed. This along with the fact that there were various ethnic groups with different cultures and spiritual beliefs also made it difficult for the spiritual systems transported to Protestant Christian North America from Africa to survive. Fortunately, prior to the advent of the Slave Trade, many of the people from the Kongo region had willingly converted to Roman Catholicism or were at least familiar with the Christian faith due to their encounter with Portuguese merchants and missionaries. Consequently, those Africans brought from the Kongo Angolan region were able to retain majority of their spiritual beliefs under the guise of Christianity. Although, they were not able to create or recreate a formal initiation system such as the ones that exist throughout the Afro diaspora, they were able to maintain an informal initiation system that follows what is commonly referred to as the Rule of the Sun.

Kongo Cross (also called the Dikenga or Yowa)

The Rule of the Sun is based upon African Cosmology particularly the Yowa, Dikenga also called the Congo or Kongo Cross. The general understanding of the Kongo Cross is that the human soul like the sun rises, zeniths, sets and is reborn again to create another dawn. Spiritually speaking, we rise and peak in our awareness, but when we experience problems, setbacks, calamity, dishonor, illness, etc. It is because we are spiritually dying or our sun/soul is setting in the West. The reason we spiritually die is because we have picked up impurities (egocentricities) from dwelling amongst the living in the physical world like selfishness, egotism, fear, etc.. So, spiritual death occurs in order to purify our soul. If we survive the problem, illness, fall from grace, etc. It is believed that we have traveled to the spiritual world and were reborn like the dawning sun. So along with this core belief, early African Americans believed that when someone experienced a spiritual death. It was because they were being Called to the spiritual world to obtain their spiritual gifts. Although good and evil existed in the Kongo mind, the whole battle between the good and evil was seen as a way in which one finds his or her true Self. In other words, it was seen as way to establish and maintain balance, so that an individual could learn to stand on the edge of both worlds.

Basic Kongo Cosmogram

Now the Calling in the African American community was similar to other shamanic societies, in the sense that those who were called at an early age displayed unusual birth signs such as being breeched, born with a caul over their head, having uncommon birthmarks and so on. But, the most common form of calling in the African American community was the fall from grace in which the individual after experiencing problems had some sort of epiphany or revelation. This is because all adversity was seen as an individual going through a dying phase, because as one elder told me “You have to go through something, in order to get something.” This something that the individual must go through is of course the adversity and hardship of the physical world. The something that the individual is going to get refers to their reward, their talent, purpose, destiny, etc. that will be obtained spiritually (or from the spiritual world). This is why it is not uncommon to hear of individuals within the African American community today being “Called” to the pulpit to be a preacher. In the olden days, the Calling was not just about being an evangelist. The Calling pertained to doing any type of ministry (God or Spirit-led) work in regards to helping people in the community such as being a seer, a healer, prayer warrior, and so on.

Robert Johnson the Blues Musician Who Supposedly Sold His Soul to Play the Guitar

Those familiar with African American folk beliefs will not understand the basis of Robert Johnson’s Crossroad Ritual and will now understand the reason what Johnson did was considered evil is because his blues music was not helping his community. It was only going to make him richer, which is why the man who allegedly teaches him was called the devil.

The Transformation from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X to El Hajj Malik Shabazz

The Calling is a form of initiation based upon the Kongo Cross and it refers to being initiated and inducted into the spiritual fold to help the community. Like most initiations, which end of something old and the beginning or start of something new. It was understood that anytime an individual experienced any sort of unusual hardship, setbacks, obstacles, problems, etc. the individual was being Called. This is the most accepted undocumented belief in the African American psyche. It is the reason those individuals that have undergone a complete transformation such as the legendary Malcolm X (and a host of others), are so cherished in the African American community. It is because African Americans like most people love a “comeback to grace” story and it is because the basis of our culture centers on the Rule of the Sun.

Because the Church became the most respected institution that white America during slavery (for the most part) would not meddle with. Many of the people that were Called were given regular titles within the institution such as deacon, evangelist, missionary, etc. but there were also those who were known as Father, Papa, Poppa, Uncle, Brother, Mother, Momma, Auntie and Sister “so – and – so”. Each of these individuals at some point in time assisted in the healing services that occur inside the church.

Contemporary Ring Shout

Like most shamanic traditions, African American religious service usually consists of a form of ritual called praise and worship, which consists of songs, music, dancing and trance called, filled with the Holy Ghost. Next, the preacher that gives the congregation a message from God and at times can also include being prayed upon for healing using blessed oil. The reason most people don’t think of it as being a shamanic trance induction service is because it is so norm and most people think that shamans are spooky witchdoctors running around with masks and bones in their nose chanting some unpronounceable language. A true shaman mediates between the spiritual world and physical world for his or her community. Everything that the shaman does is for the community because their spiritual development and advancement depends upon the people they serve. This is why typically those who were called in the African American community also did and continues to do something in regards to the church.

It is because of the Kongo Cross, anyone can participate in any form of African American spirituality (spiritual tradition, spiritual practices, folk practices, etc.) because it all centers on you going through something and surviving. It is simply put a spirituality that is based upon survival, which celebrates one’s success or victory over adversity. And, this is what makes African American spirituality a form of shamanism.

Disney’s Shadow Man of New Orleans

But, this form of spirituality has been steadily suppressed because in the early twentieth century, African Americans were routinely harassed and even imprisoned because of their religious beliefs. Today when people think of African religions or spirituality, it conjures up images of evil sorcerers. As a result, older African Americans familiar with this form of spirituality have often denied any association with it out of fear of being ostracized. Because African Americans were separated from the Motherland, in general unfamiliar with African cosmology and the old Kongo spiritual systems are nonexistent due to slavery and colonization. Slowly but surely, this system has continued to fade into extinction as the elders that followed and taught the system transition and are not able to pass their wisdom on to younger generations.

Emmett Till and Lil Wayne Controversy

Today, a great cultural tragedy is occurring on several fronts. From one perspective, because of the lack of a cultural spiritual tradition, youths unfamiliar with their own ancestral history are mocking and ridiculing their heritage. (i.e. the entertainer Lil Wayne). This is also due to the fact that many still suffer from Afrohagiophobia, which according to http://www.mamiwata.com/part2.html.

“A pathological fear and irrational intimidation of African spiritual and esoteric science, ancestral veneration, and its ritual and cultural expressions. The simplest spirit manifestations that were once understood in their cosmological context, now “spooked” the newly conditioned generations of African-Americans.”

On the other hand, many people are exploring, searching, investigating, embracing, imitating and mimicking spiritual systems that are foreign to their culture and wondering why these systems are not working and helping them to bring money, peace of mind, or harmony to their relationships. I am very well aware of the latter because I have put in my time researching and dabbling in various faiths and traditions myself. I have firsthand experience and know that if you do not belong to a particular cultural group, contrary to what anyone tells you. You are not going to get everything as the individual who is born into that culture. There is going to be a lot of information that is going to be lost in the cultural translation. A person born and raise Baptist, COGIC, Pentecostal, etc. and converts to Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. is just not going to get everything because those spiritual systems are tailored to the cultures they serve. I have even witnessed and talked to people who were involved in various African and Afro-American religions and they have told me about the indifferences that exist there as well.

Kongo Cross on Colonoware

So, here comes Kamta to save me.

After doing all of this research and studying all of these philosophies years ago. After trying to make a dying relationship with a “spiritual person” work and trying to incorporate all of these metaphysical ideas, I became deathly ill. Meaning, I almost died twice. How I survived was by throwing out everything that didn’t work and relying upon what I knew that did. I always have to tell people my story so that they can understand what happens when you don’t accept your calling, because it is real.

Queen Nzingah

While I was undergoing my own rebirthing process that is when I began putting rhyme to reason and that’s how I learned about the Kongo people and our ancestral tradition, which can be traced back to the Ba-Ntu people who dwelled in Kamit/Kemet (Ancient Egypt). It was because the original Kongo systems for the most part is nonexistent that Kamit/Kemet became the inspiration behind this system and I discovered the Maa Aankh cosmogram. By the way, this is totally within the Bantu-Kongo thinking because Kongo traditions have survived throughout the diaspora by adapting and modifying existing philosophies to fit their purpose.

So, the battle between good and evil is not seen as an eternal conflict between God and the devil, but between man and woman’s higher and lower selves allegorized as the battle between the Upper and Lower Lands of Kamit. It is the same Kongo concepts of the physical world above and the spiritual world below where one has to travel and meet Osar in order to be reborn, so that he or she can be stand on the edge of both worlds.

Unify Your Kingdom Within

Now, the key differences between Kamta and other shamanistic systems is that everyone is called to do something because the Rule of the Sun is a way of introducing and inducting everyone into the cultural fold of communal service. For instance, I have a cousin who just celebrated being drug free for 15 years now. His ministry is helping other drug addicts. He had to undergo that little experience in order to fulfill his purpose in life. As I have mentioned before, since I have overcome and survived lupus. My responsibility has been to help others to do the same thing. This is one of my callings. There is a saying and it holds true for Kamta and it is, “Everyone is Called but only a few will answer.”

Maa Aankh Cosmology

The point that I am trying to make is that we have our own spiritual traditions, our own ancestors, our own spirits and guides that we can work with and are willing to assist us out of this bind that we find ourselves in. We do not have to make up, create or mimic another’s cultural tradition especially when they do not share our concerns and would not dowse us with water if we were on fire. Our ancestors left us with all sorts of guides and maps. We just have to use them. So, I am writing this post to help you all to understand that if you have been called what you need to do, because the only ones who can tell you about it have either transitioned into the spiritual realm or are refusing to talk about it because they are suffering from Afrohagiphobia. Hopefully, this post will help you to understand why certain systems aren’t working for you and what you need to do to find your Maa (Way).

This is post number 50! Wowww! Hard to believe we posted that many. Well, I am not sure what WordPress is going to do with me after this but hey, what the heck. I live by focusing on today and not worrying about tomorrow. So, lets make this one really count!

As always I like to refer back to my experience and I remember when I first came into this understanding. Boy I was on fire. Hru (Heru, Horus – the Kamitic symbol for positive revolution) had me on fire. I was gunning and I wanted to take on Set single handily. I listened to the Last Poets, became a Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and Steel Pulse fan overnight. I was all about revolution. I read all sorts of revolutionary books. I studied The Book of Five Rings and Sun Tzu’s Art of War, because I was about change and I wanted it now. I was always fond of Public Enemy and give them much props but the underground revolutionary groups like Paris, Gangstarr, Poor Righteous Teachers, Brand Nubians and The Coup, were the ones that really embraced me. I became a member of several organizations that were about change and even participated in several marches on Washington. I was full of raw zeal until I saw the movie Drop Squad starring Eriq LaSalle.

For those of you who have never seen Drop Squad produced by Spike Lee. The movie was about a team of African Americans who were kidnapping other black people that betrayed the community and deprogramming them to change their ways. In the movie a conflict erupts between team leader (played by Vondie Curtis-Hall) who believes in deprogramming using nonviolent tactics and another member (played by Ving Rhames), who believes in using harsher tactics of deprogramming. It is real interesting movie worth watching because the movie introduces the great conflict that exist amongst us all. As the team tries to deprogram Eriq LaSalle’s character who is actively involved in advancing his career by advertising negative stereotypes.

The issues that come on the table for me were:

1. How does one advance in a capitalistic society without capital and taking advantage of the ignorance of others?
2. How does one advance in a society that historically uses discrimination and racism to promote the agenda of those with more assets?

It is a similar issue that Keenan Ivory Wayans ridiculed in his classic comedy I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, when Clarence Williams III states and I paraphrase that the “Brothers went to take over (the building) and came out with jobs.”

At the time I was a big conspiracy theorist. Thankfully, that’s when Kamitic spirituality began to take an active role in organizing my thinking. All of these movies and everything that I had read made me realize that the reason the revolution has not been won is because God was not included!

You see, we (those of us in the past) believed the revolution is solely about material possessions and that our enemy is some elite group plotting against us. While it may be true that there are corrupt individuals in every level of society that is scheming and trying to take advantage of the disenfranchised. Every revolt that has been lost in this country and abroad was not due totally to outside influences. It was mostly because of internal betrayal, which is due to having a weak mind. What I am saying is that our greatest enemy has always been the devil within, because he has tricked us all into believing that we are not divine beings.When you believe you are not a divine being you think like a human being and everything is done on a superficial level.

During the 60s and 70s people threw out the baby and the bathwater when our elders told us stories about the devil. We thought they were crazy, silly and backwards for telling us about the devil or the blues (devils). We thought they were talking about some little impish creature running around tempting people to commit evil. But they were actually talking about those non-physical energies that influence our actions and behaviors. It is these same energies that psychologists tell us is our subconscious that sabotages all of our hopes and dreams. You know those anxieties, anger, fears, ignorance, worries, etc. that we try to ignore and fail to conquer.

While I have nothing against Martin L. King Jr. and am grateful for his sacrifice. But, this is why King’s dream was cut short in his prime, while Mahatma Gandhi’s dream was realized as the British were forced to leave India. It is because Gandhi understood the power of the mind and knew that when a belief is firmly impressed upon one’s lower spirit (subconscious – the sahu division of our being). There is nothing that can deter that individual from achieving what they will.

This is why I am so very fond of the Story of Osar, because once you begin to look at the story from a metaphorical perspective. You see that Set is not one person, one group, etc. but can be anyone and anything that rebels or fights against you and the whole of humanity.This is why he is called the Kamitic devil.

When you recognize Set in your life, this is when your destiny begins to become clear, because you see. That the very force that is encouraging you to use your Divine potential for selfish and destructive means is your true enemy. This means, that it is Set that is on the street corner. It is Set who robbing us blind. It is Set that is killing us. It is Set that is poisoning people. It is Set that is abusing women. It is Set that is destroying the youth. It is Set that not educating the people. It is Set that not fighting for justice, and if you and some you know are committing any of these acts it is Set that is influence you, the Kamitic spirit of fear, ignorance, chaos, death, destruction and tyranny.

How do you fight this devil? You don’t find the devil with bullets and guns. As stated in Ephesians 6:12

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

In other words, our fight is and has always been within the mind. This is where the real revolution takes place and to defeat your devil. You simply decide not to follow him and go the other way. I know it sounds crazy and you would think it would be something ridiculously hard, but it isn’t. It is that easy, but so long as you continue to follow Set you will continue to experience his horrific wrath – hell on earth – symbolized as TASETT on the maa aankh.

When you truly decide that you will not follow Set’s path, this is when it gets mystical and you begin to get divine assistance, because your consciousness has shifted to the Amun Ra moment, which is where the Rebirth takes place. It is here where you will have your moments of clarity and flashes of insight that will change your life. It is here where you will meet your guides (physical and spiritual) and get miracles helping you to achieve your dreams or your destiny. All of this is possible because life is not about just living from a TASETT or Setian (material) perspective. In order to succeed in life you have to make a full REVOLUTION like the Sun. And, anyone can do this regardless of who you are and what you have done. You just have to see your divine potential and stop letting Set win.

I cannot explain to you how life changing this is when you come into this understanding. I mean when you Ladies begin to really see yourself as divine creations. You will see that every child you give birth to is a child of Hru born to create change and you the mother of a nation. Not only that, you will declare that every man treats you with respect and will receive protection from those who don’t.

When you men begin to see the divine within you. You will work, defend, protect and provide from a different perspective because you see the interconnectedness of what you are doing. As long as you continue to follow Set’s path you will always see one side of everything.

Same goes for husband and wife. When you see the Divine Potential in your relationship. Every experience resembles the cosmic change between the celestial heavens and material earth, hence Nut and Geb.

Our ancestors left us with some very powerful guides to reclaiming our heritage. We just have to step out on faith and begin to use them. It is not necessary for us to have a leader to create positive change in our homes, community, neighborhood, etc. Anything that we don’t like and want to change we can do it, but we have to include God in that change. Change cannot be accomplished by physical means alone because we are spiritual beings within physical body with a soul. Meaning we need a spiritual (KAMTA) and physical (TASETT) techniques to create permanent change in our life, because it is all about being holistic or Maa (Balance).

You know grow up in the West makes you see life from a competitive and segregated perspective. You focus on the differences and not on the similarities and when you do this, while trying to overcome a common foe. It is very easy for the true enemy to introduce all sorts of ills and destroy us all.

I’ll be honest with you. I once upon a time failed to see the camaraderie between Malcolm and Martin when I was younger because I found the non-violent approach to be too passive. Now that I got a little maturity under my belt. I understand the purpose of both approaches and I appreciate what Malcolm and Martin both have done. But, the enemy of fear and ignorance continues to remind people that they were at odds at each other. When the truth is that they were two sides of the same coin or two brothers united by cause with different approaches on how to solve a problem.

This is why, on January 16th even though we honor MLK, who epitomized the Civil Rights Movement. It should be a day to honor all of those men and women who stood and took that abuse for the cause including Malcolm X. Understand, if you are a person of color (Black, Asian, Latino), a female, Jewish (in some areas Catholic), you were legally discriminated against in the workplace, in housing, and other areas of society. This was the law, not just in the United States but abroad. So, if you have any rights at this present time it is because of the contributions made by these two leaders.

A lot of people don’t see it this way because the enemy of fear and ignorance has made this a color and race issue. And, every time we begin to focus on the differences instead of the similarities the enemy of fear and ignorance wins. So, we have to remind people that MLK Day is not a “black holiday”.

It was Martin Luther King that took the fight mainly to the US Supreme Court, but both of these men (especially Malcolm X) that took the fight to the world court, because people of color were being discriminated in Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, South America, Africa and Europe.

This is why outside of the US the autobiography of Malcolm X is so widely read. Remember in an earlier post, my padrino (godfather) from Cuba commented on Malcolm X and how discrimination was in Cuba prior to Castro and afterwards.

So, we must stop allowing the enemy of fear and ignorance to define who are heroes and heroines should be. And, stop allowing this same enemy to think that this is just a “black thang” when it is a “human rights thang”. Or as one of my favorite 80 rock groups puts it, the Irish rock group U2, a “Pride” thing*. Everyone benefited from the Civil Rights Movement and no it is not perfect, but it is better. It is because of these heroic individuals we have the resources to continue to make changes, if we choose to do so. When we keep this in mind. It becomes our responsibility to tell their story and our testimony to their legacy, so that their story is not perverted and all that has been gained is lost.

* Pride (In the Name of Love) by U2 was song off the Unforgettable Fire album. Initially the song was written about Ronald Reagan’s pride in America’s military power but after front man and lyricist Bono read the book Let The Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the autobiography of Malcolm X. He pondered upon the different sides of the civil rights campaign. (For more on U2 click here)

My bad…My bad…You know, when I first posted information about the netcharu or Kamitic guardian spirits on the “Who and What Are the Ancient Egyptian Gods?“, I posted the Roman Catholic correspondences because the saints help me to assist those coming from this background. I forgot to post their Christian associations, which are the forms these guardian spirits took when they first communicated to me, since I come from a fundamentalist Christian background. I will post their corresponding forms in this post, but before doing this I wanted to explain how I made these connections.

I was not trying to plug and play but really trying to understand how these guardian angels could speak with me. I knew that others like Ra Un Nefer Amen of the Ausar Auset Society had done it using surviving information from the Indus Kush and Yoruba tradition to make a connection, but I was in the spiritual desert or TASETT (see the maa aankh) at the time. I didn’t know anything about the Indus Kush or Yoruba tradition when I first began. So I would have to try and understand both of those traditions just to scratch the surface of what I needed. I went through this arduous and long intellectual process because as I stated I was raised as an Apostolic Pentecostal Christian, which basically means “Jesus only!” For those of you who don’t know what this means, let me give you a real brief explanation. This faith, along with Jehovah Witnesses, believes that if you do not accept Jesus (or Jehovah in the case of Jehovah Witnesses) as your sole lord and savior that your soul is going to hell (or annihilated). Your salvation is in the hands of the Lord and while giving up one’s individuality and the right to question God was considered heresy. So, even though culturally speaking I was raised to believe in spiritual beings that we called angels or ministering spirits. Talking to them was seen as border lining on devil worship in their eyes, so in a way you were raised to ignore your culture.

I had read numerous books on the subject and still had no clear understanding of these spirits until I met my Cuban padrino who told me a story about the orishas. Papa, the name I called him, told me a legend he learned when he was in Cuba. I am giving a condense form of the story but he basically goes like this. At bars, when Oggun comes in with Oshun, all hell breaks loose because Oshun only has eyes for Chango, which leads to Oggun and Chango fighting and that’s when Ochosi comes and carts everyone to jail. As Elegua sits in the corner laughing at the mischief he just caused.

If you ever went to a party or bar and witnessed fighting this is usually how it occurs, which gave me the foundation I needed to connect with the netcharu myself. It was shamanic meditation that helped me to move beyond the intellectual phase of just giving a definition of the netcharu, to actually interacting with them.

Since the Kamitic writers of old did not leave any texts explaining who and what the netcharu were and where they came from, a number of theories have been created to fill the intellectual void. Some believe they were created out of the blue, while others believe that they were anthropomorphized from nature. I think that both of these theories are an insult to the Kamitic people of old intelligence and believed that these guardian spirits were once upon living people. For instance, the first legendary ruler of Kamit who united the kingdom was King Menes also known as King Narmer. This is no netchar named Narmer but, the closest netchar resembling these historic feats is Osar.

Why was King Narmer given another name you might ask? I don’t know for sure but my guess is that by honoring him using his name he could really only be honored as an ancestor by immediate family. By rewarding him the name Osar he was able to be honored as a saint by all people, including those outside of his family lineage. This way anyone knowing the important points of his story, because the historical account of Osar (Narmer) at this time was probably lost, could invoke the memory of the first king. It was by admiring the positive attributes of the individual that these guardian spirits or ancestral archetypes were created that we call netcharu. But as previously stated, the Kamitic people didn’t leave any texts explaining who the netcharu were, so with no existing information on them what do you do? How do you make contact with them? Well, by relying upon my Christian upbringing and Afro-spiritual culture. I recalled that when the early Africans were brought to Protestant Christian North America, they were not able to create the same type of religious syncretism that their kin had done in the Caribbean and South America. They took the existing knowledge that they brought with them from Africa and using the bible created or “conjured” their own ancestral archetypes. Using the same technique with the Kamitic guardian spirits and the bible, I conjured the netcharu and they are:

Osar (Osiris by the Greek) is Jesus

Oset (Isis) is Mary the mother of Jesus

Hru manifested himself to me as King David from his extraordinary, naïve triumphs of a child over the giant to the humbling positioning he was placed in due to his arrogance, chauvinism and abuse of power.

Nebhet is Queen Esther, the queen that used beauty, riches and pleasure to defeat her enemy.

Hruaakhuti is none other than the two sword wielding apostle Peter

Sokar is the biblical Job who showed me how to be persistent and dance in the face of trials, tribulations, obstructions and especially illness. It was Sokar that taught me that the righteous are the ones that are reborn.

Maat appeared to me as John the Baptist the jailed prophesier who abided by and preached to the people about the Law

Djahuti is King Solomon, the alleged wisest man in the bible.

Npu is the lucky, faithful and optimistic Joseph the Dreamer. Another one of Npu’s avatars is the biblical Moses.

These ancestral archetypes that our ancestors conjured helped me to communicate with the guardian spirits or netcharu. One lesson I had to learn was that Spirit is unlimited. It is not bound by time and space nor is it confined to rigidness of color, ethnicity or affiliation. Spirit can manifest itself through anyone and anything. The connection has to be based upon energy. This understanding helped me to see that even though these ancestral archetypes are not as prevalent as they were years ago. A comparison between the Kamitic legend, the biblical stories and documentaries about African American culture will give you a connection to the netcharu. For instance, you can see the dreaming and great oratory skills of Npu manifested in Joseph the Dreamer and Moses in many preachers and leaders like Martin L. King Jr. The same brute and sharp swords of Hruaakhuti can be seen in the Apostle Peter expressed through Malcolm X. The wisdom of Djahuti seen in the words of Solomon is expressed in the late great John H. Clarke. While the courageous, golden tongue and heir of Osar, Hru can be read about in King David’s biblical psalms and other great adventures, and seen in Muhammad Ali, and so on. Through them one can see how to invoke the power of God for self-improvement and wellbeing.

May 19th marks one of the most heroic individuals in American history, the birthday of El Hajj Malik Shabazz better known to the world, as Malcolm X. Malcolm X was one of the most extraordinary individuals to walk this earth because unlike a lot of other heroes and martyrs that just appear on the scene as born leaders. Through Malcolm’s autobiography one is able to see Malcolm’s evolution from a young man unable to accomplish his dreams because of racism turned pimp, thief and street hustler to a champion of world causes after his pilgrimage to Mecca.

There are a lot of things that Malcolm accomplished in his lifetime and I am particular grateful for him and King for reasons not commonly mentioned and noticed. This is because I like a number of people see him as being what I refer to as a heroic ancestor, an aakhu. That is an ancestor that people from all over the world can look to for inspiration.

You see, coming from a Christian background and wondering if the faith my family professed to believe in was correct or not. Both Malcolm and Martin in my eyes broke the religious dogma ceiling. To understand this it must be understood that prior to Malcolm and Martin coming on the scene. I believe that a lot of people were still stuck in that spiritual rut that you had to belong to a particular faith or profess a particular belief in order to be saved. If you did not belong to this particular faith, affiliation or denomination, it was assumed that you were going to hell. This dogmatic belief still exists in many religious organizations but it is slowly changing.

For me it changed after I learned that Malcolm met with a number of people from around the world. One of the individuals that Malcolm met with was Fidel Castro, which I forgot about until I met my padrino(godfather) a black Cuban, who talked extensively about Malcolm. I remembered when I was learning about the Rastafarian Movement, I discovered that Malcolm’s autobiography was once banned in Jamaica. Why I wondered. It was because a lot of people could identify with Malcolm’s transformation and like Hon. Marcus Garvey his influence was strong and growing.

A lot of times, many of my Christian friends ask me how can I associate with people from various religious faiths? I tell them that it is because of Malcolm. Malcolm I remind them came from a Christian background. Malcolm’s father was a Christian preacher murdered by fellow men who claimed to be Christians. There were a lot of traumatic events that took place in Malcolm’s young life, which made him hate God. It was because of these events, there was no way that he was going to return to church. God had to reach Malcolm another way, so it was through Hon. Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam and finally Sunni Islam. This is why he was able to accomplish so many things and appeared to be ahead of his time. It was because of Malcolm’s religious faith, he was able to meet with others and respect them for what they believe. A true example of what it means to be a follower of God is to be able to respect others regardless of what they believe. This takes a lot of spiritual courage and growth to do, which he and Martin both were able to accomplish.

It was through Malcolm and Martin’s heroic works and devotion that I came to understand that God is not concerned with our affiliation, background or what we call our selves. God is only concerned with the heroic works that we do for our loved ones, community and humanity overall. Whatever affiliation, background, associations, etc. that we deal with is meant to help us to fulfill our destiny and do the works of God. It has nothing to do directly with our relationship with the Divine.

This is important for us to understand because right now some of the most religious people in the world. Are also the biggest warmongers and perpetrators of the most heinous crimes committed in the history of the world. So, in this sense Malcolm symbolizes true revolution, true change by reestablishing what it means to be an ancestor, thus putting salvation back in man and woman’s hands. Meaning you are responsible for your own evolution, not God. Your spirituality is between you and God. In other words if you were to physically die and see God, would God be pleased with what you are doing? This is one of the point symbolized on the maa aankh.

Another thing that Malcolm signified through his works is that you can’t have physical change without money. Could this be the reason why Malcolm met with Fidel to understand how to fund change? Not sure. What I am sure of is that you can’t create real lasting revolutionary change without any money. And, when I say money I am not talking about greenbacks, but assets baby! This is something that we all need to learn about, the difference between assets and liabilities. Too many of us have liabilities and not enough assets.

So, this May 19 lets remember Malcolm not only for all of his cultural contributions. Let’s honor his memory by reflecting upon what we need to do to become an honorable ancestors ourselves. Let’s become more responsible for our own physical and spiritual salvation and the salvation of our communities.